Sixteen-year-old André is sent to a juvenile prison for vagrancy and ends up as the youngest person to be executed by guillotine in France. In this novel, Malet pays tribute to the Parisian underdogs of the 1920s. He depicts the underbelly of Paris, with its dives, quays, and slums, without romanticizing it. Happiness exists for the drifters only as a deceptive hope, even if it bears the name Gina and promises an escape from misery. However, Gina is sold to an Arab, and misfortune takes its course. After a murder committed by her jealous lover, Gina dies while trying to escape. André buries her in a Native American style on a tree between two thick branches, where the rising sun can shine upon her. With cool detachment and biting dialogue, Malet portrays the social situation in which the sun only shines for the rich.